Posts Tagged ‘landing’

We sent this strip to some magazines, but were debating if we should use it on our website, because it’s one of those with pilot gobbledygook that may not be easily understandable for pedestrians. But then we thought, why not! So, if you have no idea what the guy in the tower is saying in the last panel, here’s the explanation:

“ELT” is short for “Emergency Locator Transmitter“, which is a distress radio beacon that activates automatically in case of a crash. It sometimes is set off when a landing is too rough. “CAP” is short for “Civil Air Patrol“, which is the civil auxiliary organization of the US Air Force which engages in Search and Rescue missions (among many other things).

When it comes to humor and comedy, timing is everything. And, as so often, I really sympathize with Chuck here, because I couldn’t tell a joke right if my life depended on it. Considering the job I have, this may sound pretty counterintuitive, but it’s true! Ask my friends and family. Maybe that’s why I like the format of comics so much to express myself, because when you draw a comic strip, you can calmly think about it and re-work the wording a hundred times before you put it on paper. And then it stands for itself, even giving the reader the opportunity to read his own timing and emphases into the text. And now imagine some final thought, preferably also including a pun, that rounds up this blog and brings it into a logical conclusion. That’s also not one of my strong points, it seems!

I can tell Julio is joking here. And not just because I’m the one who drew him, but because an event registering a 9 on the Richter scale would mean an energy of approximately 2 Exajoule (2.000.000.000.000.000 Joule) would have been released. Even fully loaded and with an engine conversion, the Cessna 172 would have a hard time achieving that.

Chuck and Julio are going to Oshkosh for the first time in their life! Well, Oshkosh, Nebraska…
Hopefully they’ll make it in time for Oshkosh, Wisconsin and AirVenture 2012. Find out on Thursday!

Also, Mike and Stefan will be going to Oshkosh together for the first time in their life! Our official book signing dates and times through EAA’s “Author’s Corner” are on Thursday the 26th from 11:30 AM to 12:30 PM and on Friday the 27th from 9:30 AM until 10:30 AM.

Of course we’ll try to also hang out on Wednesday and Saturday as well to meet you guys. We will give you those specific times via tweet and/or facebook. But if you want a guaranteed meeting with us please stick to the dates above. We are really excited to meet as many of you as we can!

PS: Today is the official release date for our new book! Read more below. You can get it in our online shops (USA and Europe) or pick up an authographed copy when you meet us in Oshkosh!

Thank you all for sticking with us through 2011! We had our ups and downs, but it was a pretty good year after all. We wish you guys all a fantastic New Years Eve and a good start into 2012! May all your wishes come true for you!

By the way, Mike and I have decided to finally publish our fourth book in 2012! So that’s at least one small thing you can look forward to!

This one goes out to all the flight students out there! We know that we have quite a few among our fans. We sincerely hope that you’re not cursed with a flight instructor like Chuck though! But if you are, send us your stories!

Mike’s out travelling, so I’ll have to write the blog to this strip, which is a bit of a shame, because Mike could tell you a story or two about landing a helicopter in unusual places. Well, if you have enough time on your hands, you can read through “The adventures of Panaca Jane” in our forum! And maybe some of you have a story or two you can share in the comments our the forum.